Clashes, collaborations and convergences: Evolving relations of Turkish and Kurdish women’s rights activists

This article discusses the various ways the Kurdish women’s movement has impacted feminism in the Turkish context. Against the background of the problematic historical relationship between Turkish and Kurdish women’s rights activists, the article explores the shift in perceptions of, attitudes towards and relations of feminists in Turkey with the Kurdish women’s movement. The article shows that a ‘new generation of feminists’ in Turkey appreciates and is inspired by the Kurdish women’s movement, and rejects the Kemalist and nationalist undertones of earlier generations. Without wanting to belittle on-going nationalism and the rise of women’s cadres linked to the authoritarian Turkish regime, the article analyses the various ways the intersectional long-term struggle of Kurdish women is being perceived, recognized and critically engaged with by many Turkish feminist activists.